


I've seen love die // way too many times

by charleybradburies



Category: DCU, Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Angst, Angst and Humor, Boss/Employee Relationship, Breaking and Entering, Canon Character of Color, Canon-Typical Violence, Community: 1_million_words, Community: BradyGirl_12 DCU Challenges, Community: femslashagenda, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Don't Try This At Home, F/F, Family, Family Don't End in Blood, Family Feels, Female Relationships, Female-Centric, Femslash, Gen, Girl Power, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Home Invasion, Minor Injuries, Mistaken Identity, Mistaken for Being in a Relationship, POV Female Character, Power Outage, Protectiveness, Season/Series 01, Secret Identity, Series Spoilers, Sister-Sister Relationship, Sisters, Spies & Secret Agents, Superheroes, Teamwork, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 03:08:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5113850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charleybradburies/pseuds/charleybradburies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kara has Alex on call for emergencies. The day before Halloween, they both happen to have emergencies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I've seen love die // way too many times

**Author's Note:**

> bradygirl_12 [prompts](http://bradygirl-12.livejournal.com/1151703.html) used: candles, costumes, Halloween party.
> 
> Title from the lyrics of Paramore's "Emergency."
> 
> To my ongoing dismay, I own none of the DC/CBS characters nor their storylines.

Alex knocks harshly, even though she knows her presence is already known. Kara rushes to the door in her pyjamas like a normal person, her slippers squeaking against her apartment floor, and opens the door with way too much force. It flings open and hits her in the face, just the icing she needs for the muffin of her morning. 

“Okay, what’s the emergency?”

“Cat wants me to accompany her to her Halloween party.”

“That’s...an emergency? I thought you wanted to go, that it would mean she was impressed-”

“Well, that’s...that’s not the emergency, per se.”

She’s trembling. Alex grabs her arms and holds her steady, and for a moment she’s almost fooled into pretending that Alex is the one with the stupid super strength.

“The emergency is that she wants me to dress up as Supergirl.”

“Oh.”

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say? “Oh?”” 

“Well, what am I supposed to say? I’m not the one with a secret superhero identity!” 

Kara opens her mouth, but can’t respond, and sighs. Alex smiles a wincing, apologetic kind of smile.

“Maybe...keep your glasses on and hope that no one stirs up trouble while you’re at the party?”

“Right, because I have that much luck.”

Right as she’s shoving the word ‘luck’ out of her mouth, the overhead lights in her apartment start to flicker. She and Alex exchange looks that are brimming with sarcasm, and hers, probably some despair because _come on_.

The lights go out - but apparently (or maybe hopefully) it’s not just her apartment, because a few screams ring out down the hall.

“You’re kidding,” she murmurs, and Alex cooes after her.

“You’re a superhero.”

“Well, you got me there,” she admits, but decides that the best course of action is to see what Kara Danvers could do first, before bringing any alien nonsense onto the scene, and as it turns out, all that’s needed to solve everyone’s problems is the light from their phones and a bic lighter reluctantly handed over by the stoner in the corner apartment. 

But an unlit apartment isn’t what’s waiting for her when she gets back, no, because someone’s got a knife against Alex’s neck.

 _You can fly, Kara. You can’t get pimples. The world needs you to fly, Kara,_ she repeats to herself, closing the door slowly behind her. _Alex needs you to stay calm._

“You must be Kara,” an unexpectedly gruff voice says, certainly seeming to be coming from the nondescript figure behind Alex.

“Who?”

Her voice, like her new opponent’s, is more forceful than she’d expected. _Good._

Two blue lights flash above Alex’s head as Kara moves. Eyes. She can barely see the rest of them in the dark, but she’s got an outline of their body, and she’s got eyes.

“You know who I’m looking for.”

_Not human, Kara. You’ve got to get used to not trying to seem human._

It takes more concentration than it probably should, but she mentally singles out both Alex and the assailant in her mind. 

Rapid heartbeat. Tense body, far too warm. Knife pressed far too close, right in front of her windpipe, with its blade turned against her rather than cutting against her skin, but Kara can tell that it’s already cut into her neck. Only a bit, nothing that good old Neosporin and an unattractively placed band-aid won’t heal, but that’s more than enough for Kara.

Male, human, cargo pants. Money and a phone in the left and right back pockets, respectively. 

“No, I’m afraid I don’t.”

_Pay attention. Just pay attention._

She steps closer, farther into her living room. His heartbeat speeds up, and he makes a tsk-tsk sound. 

_Oh, he’s_ really _gonna get it._

Kara clenches her jaw.

“Bad girl, Kara. Maybe _this_ girl knows who I’m looking for.”

He smiles, even though he probably isn’t sure she can see him. If he was one of the escaped convicts, then he’d know, but he’s not, so she really isn’t sure. What if he was here because of something human? A serial killer or something, there were always those, weren’t there? Someone had to give the police something to do, too, not just play with Superman.

He probably thought he was picking on someone smaller than he was. 

Technically, he wasn’t wrong. But _oh,_ how figuratively wrong he was.

Alex’s body tenses even more. Even without being a secret agent she was more likely to bite him than to let herself be taken advantage of.

“Hmm?” he tries repeating his inquiry, but makes the mistake of shifting feet when he starts turning the knife, and the knife soon clatters to the floor, Alex's elbow having been jabbed into the man’s side and his throat now cradled harshly in Kara’s hand. 

Alex reaches for the knife, fumbling a little, but still less than most humans would in darkness like this. 

“Now for the _real_ question: who the hell are _you_?”

“Who am-” he gets out before Kara tightens her grip.

“Hey, girlie. Don’t let him black out on us,” Alex urges, and Kara relaxes her grip a bit. 

“I don’t know any Kara,” she says, although she and Alex both have to stifle some giggles. She slips off her glasses quietly and tucks them away. 

“I’m just Supergirl. Well, I’m technically off-duty at the moment, but, you know, duty calls.”

She practically has to feign Cat’s voice to say it with scorn rather than anger, but she manages - and then lets him go. He collapses to the floor, in pain but glad to be able to breathe.

“Then who’s _she_? No one’s said nothing about Supergirl having a girlfriend,” he grunts, and this time, Kara lets out a chuckle. 

“You obviously don’t know much about me in the first place, seeing as you came here to begin with.”

“Well, like I said, I didn’t come for no Supergirl.”

“How unprofessional would it be of me to correct his grammar?” Alex says, so quietly she’s practically mouthing it, and Kara shrugs.

“Who _did_ you come for?” Alex asks him instead, and Kara puts one of her slippered feet atop his back, slightly pressing him into the floor.

“Police, open up!” comes a shout from the door, and the man considers crying out, but barely a gasp makes it through his lips before a fearsome “don’t” from Kara proves an effective enough silencer. 

Kara shoots Alex a worried look, but Alex has on half a grin. She starts towards the door, and Kara shoves her with some air.

“I know that voice,” Alex mouths back at her, still walking, and opens the door to her boss.

“Well, _you’re_ late.”

“Late?” exclaims Kara.

“I didn’t exactly get a memo, Agent,” he grumbles at Alex, but seems to realize that the remark’s been made under duress.

“Agent?” the man on the floor whimpers. “Oh, shit, is this some kind of sting?”

“Would you be familiar with those?” Henshaw snickers back at him, and Alex and Kara trade smiles. 

“I’ll take it from here. You should do something about these lights. A regular human might not do too hot with ‘em.”

“Neighbors already have candles up and everything.”

Two agents in Henshaw’s current entourage come in and take the intruder off their hands, but Kara stops Henshaw before they’ve left.

“When you find out why he came-”

“That’ll be confidential, Supergirl.”

“He came after _me,_ after _us_!” she gestures over at Alex, but her pseudo-human awkwardness hasn’t come back yet.

“My interrogation, my rules.”

“My cooperation, your rule-bending.”

“Watch it. You’re not the biggest, baddest, boldest alien out here-”

“No, but you need _my_ help to handle the ones who are. Humans have Witness Protection, what can you give me?”

Kara’s the only one who can see Alex smiling proudly at her, and somehow, it makes all the difference in her ability to keep her stance.

“We’ll talk, Supergirl. But with some distance in between this and that, a little less adrenaline. You two get yourselves sorted for the night.”

“Right. Almost forgot I had _human_ problems to contend with, too.”

“Halloween tomorrow. Dress up, down your sorrows. That’s _probably_ what I’ll be doing. Unless, of course, I don't get the night off.”

He winks, and ushers himself out. Kara turns towards Alex. 

“How convincing do you think I’ll be if I tell Cat that I'm sick?”


End file.
